Vinod A Pullarkat, M.D.

800-826-4828
Vinod A Pullarkat, M.D.
Hematologist-Oncologist
Clinical Expertise
  • Acute Leukemias
  • Myeloid Malignancies
  • Hematopoietic Cell Transplant
Research Area
  • Acute Leukemia
  • Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
  • Bone Marrow Failure
  • Autoimmune Hematologic Diseases
Other Languages Spoken
Hindi
Malayalam
Academic Appointments
  • Professor, Division of Leukemia, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
  • Associate Professor, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Clinical Teams
Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Leukemia

Vinod A. Pullarkat, M.D., M.R.C.P. is Professor of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope. He completed residency in internal medicine at New York Methodist Hospital and subsequently underwent fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology at University of Southern California. He then held a fellowship in bone marrow transplantation at the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte then served as faculty from 2003-2010 before moving back to USC to serve as Medical Director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Program. He returned to City of Hope in 2014.

Board certified in Hematology, Dr. Pullarkat’s research interests include treatment of acute leukemia, stem cell transplantation, bone marrow failure and autoimmune hematologic disorders. His basic research focusses on new drug development for acute leukemia. Dr. Pullarkat has authored over 175 scientific articles in various peer reviewed journals and edited books on acute leukemia. He serves as principal investigator for multiple clinical trials at City of Hope.

Location

Education & Experience

Board Certifications

  • 2023, American Board of Hematology
  • 1997, Royal Colleges of Physicians (UK)

Degrees

  • 1992, M.D., Calicut Medical College, University of Calicut, Kerala, India
  • MRCP, Royal Colleges of Physicans of United Kingdom

Fellowship

  • 2002–2003, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, California
  • 1997–2000, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Residency

  • 1992–1994, Calicut Medical College, India
  • 1995–1997, New York Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, New York

Internship

  • 1994–1995, New York Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, New York
  • 1991–1992, Calicut Medical College, University of Calicut, Kerala, India

Professional Experience

  • 2017–present, Professor, Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope
  • 2014–2016, Associate Professor, Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope
  • 2011–2013, Associate Member, Edythe and Eli Broad Center for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine, USC
  • 2011–2013, Medical Director, Stem Cell Processing Laboratory, Keck School of Medicine of USC
  • 2011–2013, Medical Director, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Keck School of Medicine of USC
  • 2011–2013, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC
  • Member, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • 2009–2010, Associate Professor, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, California
  • 2003–2009, Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, California
  • 2002–2003, Clinical Instructor, City of Hope, Duarte, California
  • 2000–2002, Clinical Instructor in Medicine, Division of Hematology, University of Southern California School of Medicine and Attending Physician, Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center, Los Angeles

Awards & Memberships

Memberships

  • Member, Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom
  • Member, European Hematology Association
  • Member, American Society of Hematology
  • Member, American Society Clinical Oncology
  • Member, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
  • Member, SouthWest Oncology Group

Publications

  • Aldoss I, Afkhami M, Yang D, Gu Z, Mokhtari S, Shahani S, Pourhassan H, Agrawal V, Koller P, Arslan S, Tomasian V, Al Malki MM, Artz A, Salhotra A, Ali H, Aribi A, Sandhu KS, Ball B, Otoukesh S, Amanam I, Becker PS, Stewart FM, Curtin P, Smith E, Telatar M, Stein AS, Marcucci G, Forman SJ, Nakamura R, Pullarkat V. High response rates and transition to transplant after novel targeted and cellular therapies in adults with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia with Philadelphia-like fusions. Am J Hematol. 2023 Jun;98(6):848-856. doi: 10.1002/ajh.26908. Epub 2023 Mar 16. PMID: 36880203.
  • Pullarkat VA, Lacayo NJ, Jabbour E, Rubnitz JE, Bajel A, Laetsch TW, Leonard J, Colace SI, Khaw SL, Fleming SA, Mattison RJ, Norris R, Opferman JT, Roberts KG, Zhao Y, Qu C, Badawi M, Schmidt M, Tong B, Pesko JC, Sun Y, Ross JA, Vishwamitra D, Rosenwinkel L, Kim SY, Jacobson A, Mullighan CG, Alexander TB, Stock W. Venetoclax and Navitoclax in Combination with Chemotherapy in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. Cancer Discov. 2021 Jun;11(6):1440-1453. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-20-1465. Epub 2021 Feb 16. PMID: 33593877; PMCID: PMC9533326.
  • Hoang DH, Buettner R, Valerio M, Ghoda L, Zhang B, Kuo YH, Rosen ST, Burnett J, Marcucci G, Pullarkat V, Nguyen LXT. Arsenic Trioxide and Venetoclax Synergize against AML Progenitors by ROS Induction and Inhibition of Nrf2 Activation. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jun 12;23(12):6568. doi: 10.3390/ijms23126568. PMID: 35743010; PMCID: PMC9223383.
  • Pratz KW, Jonas BA, Pullarkat V, Recher C, Schuh AC, Thirman MJ, Garcia JS, DiNardo CD, Vorobyev V, Fracchiolla NS, Yeh SP, Jang JH, Ozcan M, Yamamoto K, Illes A, Zhou Y, Dail M, Chyla B, Potluri J, Döhner H. Measurable Residual Disease Response and Prognosis in Treatment-Naïve Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Venetoclax and Azacitidine. J Clin Oncol. 2022 Mar 10;40(8):855-865. doi: 10.1200/JCO.21.01546. Epub 2021 Dec 15. PMID: 34910556; PMCID: PMC8906463.
  • Salhotra A, Tsai NC, Zhang J, Ngo D, Aribi A, Sandhu K, Ball B, Al-Malki M, Ali H, Koller P, Artz A, Forman S, Nakamura R, Stein A, Marcucci G, Aldoss I, Pullarkat V. Venetoclax and hypomethylating agents yield high response rates and favourable transplant outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia. Br J Haematol. 2022 Mar;196(6):e71-e74. doi: 10.1111/bjh.17996. Epub 2021 Dec 21. PMID: 34931310.
  • Aldoss I, Otoukesh S, Zhang J, Mokhtari S, Ngo D, Mojtahedzadeh M, Al Malki MM, Salhotra A, Ali H, Aribi A, Sandhu KS, Arslan S, Koller P, Ball B, Stewart F, Curtin P, Artz A, Nakamura R, Marcucci G, Forman SJ, Stein AS, Pullarkat V. Extramedullary disease relapse and progression after blinatumomab therapy for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer. 2022 Feb 1;128(3):529-535. doi: 10.1002/cncr.33967. Epub 2021 Oct 11. PMID: 34633671.
  • Aldoss I, Gu Z, Afkhami M, Mokhtari S, Pullarkat V. Ph-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults: understanding pathogenesis, improving outcomes, and future directions for therapy. Leuk Lymphoma. 2023 Jun;64(6):1092-1101. doi: 10.1080/10428194.2023.2197538. Epub 2023 Apr 6. PMID: 37021793.
  • Pollyea DA, Pratz KW, Wei AH, Pullarkat V, Jonas BA, Recher C, Babu S, Schuh AC, Dail M, Sun Y, Potluri J, Chyla B, DiNardo CD. Outcomes in Patients with Poor-Risk Cytogenetics with or without TP53 Mutations Treated with Venetoclax and Azacitidine. Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Dec 15;28(24):5272-5279. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-1183. PMID: 36007102; PMCID: PMC9751752.
  • Rainone M, Ngo D, Baird JH, Budde LE, Htut M, Aldoss I, Pullarkat V. Interferon-γ blockade in CAR T-cell therapy-associated macrophage activation syndrome/hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Blood Adv. 2023 Feb 28;7(4):533-536. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2022008256. PMID: 35917457; PMCID: PMC9979758.
  • Salhotra A, Aribi A, Ngo D, Zhang J, Sandhu K, Al-Malki M, Ali H, Koller P, Arslan S, Budde E, Khaled S, Dadwal S, Snyder DS, Artz A, Forman S, Nakamura R, Stein A, Marcucci G, Aldoss I, Pullarkat V. Outcome of secondary acute myeloid leukemia treated with hypomethylating agent plus venetoclax (HMA-Ven) or liposomal daunorubicin-cytarabine (CPX-351). Am J Hematol. 2021 Jun 1;96(6):E196-E200. doi: 10.1002/ajh.26157. Epub 2021 Apr 8. PMID: 33719090.
  • Pullarkat V, Lacayo NJ, Jabbour E et al. Venetoclax and navitoclax in combination with chemotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoblastic lymphoma. Cancer Discovery 2021 (in press)
  • DiNardo CD, Jonas BA, Pullarkat V et al.  HYPERLINK "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32786187/" Azacitidine and Venetoclax in Previously Untreated Acute Myeloid Leukemia. N Engl J Med. 2020 Aug 13;383(7):617-629. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2012971.
  • Nguyen LXT, Troadec E, Kalvala A, Kumar B, Hoang DH, Viola D, Zhang B, Nguyen DQ, Aldoss I, Ghoda L, Budde E, Pichiorri F, Rosen S, Forman SJ, Marcucci G, Pullarkat V. The Bcl-2 inhibitor venetoclax inhibits Mrf2 antioxidant pathway activation induced by hypomethylating agents in AML J Cell Physiol. 2019 Aug;234(8):14040-14049. doi: 10.1002/jcp.28091. Epub 2019 Jan 8.
  • Mei M, Aldoss I, Marcucci G, Pullarkat V. Hypomethylating agents in combination with venetoclax for acute myeloid leukemia: Update on clinical trial data and practical considerations for use. Am J Hematol. 2019 Mar;94(3):358-362. doi: 10.1002/ajh.25369. Epub 2018 Dec 13
  • Malki MMA, Song JY, Yang D, Cao T, Aldoss I, Mokhtari S, Dadwal S, Marcucci G, Karanes C, Snyder D, Nademanee A, Forman SJ, Nakamura R, Pullarkat V.  Iron overload is associated with delayed engraftment and increased non relapse mortality in recipients of umbilical cord blood transplantation Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2020 Sep;26(9):1697-1703. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2020.06.002. Epub 2020.
  • Sandhu KS, Dadwal S, Yang D, Mei M, Palmer J, Salhotra A, Al Malki M, Aribi A, Ali H, Khaled S, Forman SJ, Snyder D, Nakamura R, Stein AS, Marcucci G, Aldoss I, Pullarkat V. Outcome of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation after Venetoclax and Hypomethylating Agent Therapy for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2020 Dec;26(12):e322-e327. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2020.08.027. Epub 2020

Ratings & Reviews

Ratings and reviews below are gathered from the Press Ganey Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS) survey. CG CAHPS is a standardized survey that is used to measure a patient's experience in the physician office setting. Ratings are an average of all responses to questions about a provider's care, with five stars being the highest.
4.9
Recommend this provider office
4.9
Provider explain in way you understand
4.9
Provider listen carefully to you
4.9
Know important info medical history
4.9
Show respect for what you say
4.8
Spend enough time with you
4.8
Rate provider 0-10
03/14/26
Reasonable, intelligent, helpful, great explanation - Verified patient
03/14/26
Excellent - Verified patient
01/07/26
Dr Pullarkat is an exceptional specialist - Verified patient
01/01/26
Dr Pullarkat is an exceptional physician. I feel very lucky to have him as my doctor and City of Hope as my healthcare institution. Best experience possible! - Verified patient
12/26/25
Other than my disappointment with his late arrival for my scheduled appointment, Dr. Pullarkat seemed highly knowledgeable, shared test results and trends with me on the computer screen and provided information about treatment and future tests. I am returning for a second appointment on [...]. - Verified patient